COLUMBUS Patrol's trooper of year works from Lisbon Post

Trooper Metz excels in all performance areas, his post commander says.
COLUMBUS -- Trooper Kenneth A. Metz of the Lisbon Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol has been named the state's trooper of the year.
Trooper Metz was one of the outstanding patrol employees recognized at the patrol's 2001 annual awards luncheon Friday by Col. Kenneth L. Morckel, patrol superintendent, and Lt. Gov. Maureen O'Connor, director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
"He's one of our most outstanding troopers. We have divisional core values and he exhibits all of them on a daily basis," said Lt. George Williams, post commander. The patrol's core values include honesty, self-motivation and adaptability.
"He's consistently a leader in our DUI enforcement efforts," the lieutenant said, adding that Metz regularly works 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shifts. Trooper Metz also received the ACE award for 2001 -- an honor given to troopers who recover five or more stolen cars in a year -- and is also a leader in traffic citations and warnings and assistance to motorists in distress, Lt. Williams said.
Selected from 10: Col. Morckel selected Trooper Metz for the award from the 10 district troopers of the year. A 1990 graduate of the 120th patrol academy class, Trooper Metz has been assigned to the Warren and Lisbon posts. Having been a trooper for 12 years, he was previously named post trooper of the year in 1993, 1994, 1997 and 1999.
Post troopers of the year are elected by their co-workers. The district captain selects the district trooper of the year from among the post troopers of the year in his multicounty district.
Trooper Metz, who is one of about 1,000 troopers statewide, also volunteers his time to teach children in preschools, day-care centers and schools in three counties about safety around strangers.
He resides in Warren with his wife, Tracey, and their son, Allan, 6.